Author: Martin Mwita

• Most East African family businesses believe that it is essential to be trusted by customers, employees and family members. 
• Among those who consider trust among each group important: 56% are fully trusted by customers, 47% are fully trusted by employees and 77% are fully trusted by family members.
• East Africa’s level of trust is slightly higher than global survey on family businesses.

Family businesses in East Africa demonstrated robust performance over the past financial year, with 64 percent experiencing growth, compared to 46 percent in 2021, as indicated by a survey conducted by the advisory firm PwC. The PwC’s East Africa Family Business Survey 2023 affirms the resilience of family businesses, consistently overcoming geopolitical challenges.

Despite their success, experts emphasize that these businesses must adopt new priorities to ensure the longevity of their legacies. The landscape of building trust in business is undergoing a fundamental and rapid transformation. Environmental, Social, …

• The Kenya Tourism Board has developed a five-year (2023-2028) strategic plan to propel the growth of tourist arrivals.
• It aims to increase the tourism sector’s contribution to Kenya’s economy to $6.6 billion annually by June 2028.
• Public-private sector collaboration in destination marketing is one of the strategies being employed, incorporating ideas that will shape the industry’s performance within the review period.

Kenya aims to increase annual international tourist arrivals to 5.5 million in the next five years, a goal that would more than triple the current numbers. The ambitious plan is spearheaded by the country’s primary marketing unit, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), which is seeking collaboration with private sector players to effectively market the country.

According to KTB Chairperson Francis Gichaba, the sector is experiencing a full recovery, and he anticipates that arrivals by the end of the current financial year will surpass the slightly over 1.9 million visitors …

The Kenyan government has revoked 1,546 licenses in the mining sector as it gradually resumes licensing, marking the end of nearly four years of a standing moratorium. Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi, from the State Department for Mining, confirmed that the ministry has undertaken a thorough audit of all mineral rights holders to identify non-compliant rights.…

Climate finance by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) for low-income and middle-income economies hit a new record of $60.7 billion in 2022. The amount was 46 per cent higher than the 2019 levels, a new joint report by the lenders shows.

In terms of usage, $38.0 billion, or 63 per cent, went into projects helping mitigate the rising threat of climate change. Another $22.7 billion, or 37 per cent, went into supporting climate change adaptation initiatives. Overall, the portfolio of private finance mobilised in the period stood at $16.9 billion, the report said.…

• President William Ruto who is attending the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing is urging Chinese investors to target energy, water and housing sectors in Kenya.
• He said Kenya will support investors who will add value to the country’s abundant raw materials.
• The President witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and Energy China.

Kenya is seeking more investments from China amid a slow return to borrowing for development, which could see the East Asian country continue with its dominance in Kenya’s infrastructure space.

President William Ruto, who is attending the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, has urged Chinese investors to exploit opportunities in the fields of energy, water and housing in Kenya. He said Kenya will support investors who will add value to the country’s abundant raw materials.

“Kenya presents real opportunities for investment especially in transformative areas …

The latest Africa’s Pulse report by the World Bank presents a somber economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa. Escalating instability, lackluster growth within the region’s major economies, and persistent global economic uncertainties collectively overshadow the region’s economic resurgence prospects.

In its comprehensive analysis, the World Bank anticipates a slowdown in economic growth across Sub-Saharan Africa, with a projected rate of 2.5 per cent for 2023, compared to the 3.6 per cent recorded in 2022. This assessment underscores the multifaceted challenges currently facing the region’s economic landscape.…

Kenya’s private sector activities contracted in September as high fuel prices and inflation took a toll on businesses, which saw a drop in sales, the latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) now indicates.

Stanbic Bank Kenya’s PMI slid back into negative territory at the end of the third quarter, as firms saw a sharp contraction in new orders following a brief respite in August. In the period, elevated inflationary pressures and rising fuel bills dampened client sales, leading to the second-fastest rise in input costs in the survey’s near-decade history.…

The loan market in Kenya’s banking sector is going through one of its toughest periods in nearly two decades. With interest rates on the rise and a challenging economic environment, many borrowers—individuals and businesses—are finding it hard to meet their loan obligations.

According to the most recent data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the proportion of loans that are not being repaid, known as non-performing loans (NPLs), reached 15.0 percent in August 2023, up from 14.2 percent in August 2022. This represents more than $4 billion (Ksh596 billion), the highest it has been in 18 years. The last time Kenya experienced such a high level of loan defaults was back in 2005, when it reached nearly 30 percent.…

• Egypt and Nigeria markets remain the top targets of international hotel chains. 
• New hotels’ pipeline in sub-Saharan Africa has gone up six per cent in 2022 (measured by rooms), whilst in North Africa the total has risen by four per cent.
• At the moment, the hotel chains have deals signed in 42 countries in Africa.

Africa remains a top investment destination by global hotel chains as brands pump in billions of dollars into putting up facilities in the continent, an industry survey now shows.

The African hotel chain development pipeline now totals 482 hotels with 84,427 rooms, the W-Hospitality Group report titled ‘Hotel Chain Development Pipeline Africa’, indicates.

This total was analysed initially according to two main regions, that is, North Africa where it looked at five countries – Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, and sub-Saharan Africa (49 countries, including the Indian Ocean islands).

The pipeline in …

Kenya’s private sector and households are grappling with costly credit, a government report now indicates, curtailing key investments by firms and individuals despite a stable financial sector. One of the main criticisms of the credit market in Kenya is that the cost of credit and the interest rate spread by the banking sector is high.
On average, the annual interest rate for the Kenyan banking sector is within a range of 12 per cent to 14 per cent for various categories of loans offered, according to the Kenya Economic Report 2023 by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).…